Normal Again
by Zelirium
Summary: After Tahno had his bending taken away, he's been feeling rather alone until Mako gave him a small sliver of kindness, and Tahno begins to see the world differently, or at least Mako, with a slowly changing heart. A Tahno X Mako Fic.


" And what an amazing display of bending! A triple knockout! Tahno has won the game for the wolfbats their second championship in a row!" There was a click and the recording of the wolfbats second championship win ended.. Tahno sat still gazing blankly into the rain outside his homestead.. it had been a week since his bending had been taken away by Amon. He shut his eyes biting his lip holding his emotions back. Everyone had been so "understanding" and "sorry" that it happened to him.  
He wished they would stop. It was just like a constant reminder that he couldn't use his bending anymore.  
It was all he had in the world. That he truly loved. It was gone now. Forever.

He was careless to think he could have taken that man on.. He should have just dropped his pride and fled. He stared out at the rain with a discontent look in his eye. His whole attitude had a feeling of underlying despair now ever since he woke up after being dumped into the water at the arena..  
He pulled his boots on and walked outside, he didn't even bother with a jacket.. There was no real point to it anyways..  
Anything that had to do with water reminded him he couldn't waterbend, but the feeling of rain was comforting.. The cold drops made him feel like he had the illusion of control over the water.. It let him drown out the sounds of the world around him with the roar of a million drops hitting the ground at once all around him. .  
The rain put him back in his memories a long time ago when he was younger.. When he was still learning to bend water right.. He would spend hours trying to do it properly and then get soaked because he'd lose his footing or concentration and his hold over it would make it fall over him like a bucket being dumped on him.  
"Tahno."  
Maybe he could start over from the beginning somehow? What if he only temporarily lost it?  
"Tahno!"  
What if his water bending was still there but he had to learn to use it differently?  
"TAHNO."  
He jumped slightly realizing that someone was calling his name to get his attention. He glanced up towards the owner of the voice.  
"What are you doing out here? It's freezing.."  
Mako was standing there with an umbrella. Tahno looked around kind of taking in where he was..  
"What does it matter to you what I do?" He asked in a snippy manner. Mako wasn't really the person he wanted to see.  
"I just think it's strange that you would just wander around like a zombie in the freezing rain." Mako replied in a defensive tone.  
"I just have a lot on my mind and the rain helps clear my head. What are YOU doing?" He griped back at the other.  
"Bolin is sick so I went to get some remedies for him.." Mako said.  
"oh. Well I hope he gets better." Tahno stated in an annoyed manner. "Even I didn't get sick and I was unconscious in that water or a really long time. Why is your brother such a weakling?"  
"well I'm so sorry that not all of us can be YOU Tahno." Mako retorted. Tahno tilted his stance back slightly as if offended by the response but he said nothing. He just shot the other an irritated look. His stance shifted like he was finally going to walk away but he paused his motions and turned back towards Tahno shoving his closed umbrella into his hands.  
"Get out of the rain or you'll get sick too." Mako added.  
Tahno glanced down at the umbrella in his hands and his eyebrows knitted together a surprised irritable look crossing his features.  
"I don't _need_ your charity." Tahno said harshly He threw the umbrella down, on the ground in a puddle and crossed his arms. "Having water on me doesn't even bother me that much I can just bend-" His escalating voice died down and he went silent for a moment mumbling the last few words of the sentence.. "myself dry.."  
Mako gave him a pained sympathetic look.. Who looks at people that way? Tahno watched him as he picked up the umbrella and held it back out to him. He stared at it in his hands an empty feeling welling up in his chest, before he opened it slowly, ceasing his stubborn behavior..  
Mako gazed at him with that irritating pained look before finally opening his mouth to speak. "Listen I'm sor-"  
"Don't." Tahno interrupted. "I'm sick of everyone's apologies. Apologizing about it isn't going to fix anything and it doesn't make me feel any better. People are just sorry for me so they can feel better about themselves." He said.. He let out a slow quivering breath, "So just. Don't."  
His tone was abrasive, but it was clear in his silver eyes that he was distraught.. He turned his back on Mako, and brought his other hand up to his eyes dry, not caring if Mako saw the motion or not.  
Mako was actually silent and that was actually calming in a small way, but he did speak, and Tahno went rigid ready to yell at him for trying to be sympathetic, but what came out wasn't sympathy.  
"alright then.. See you around Tahno." Mako said. His tone sounded careful, and a little understanding. It was different than others. The last person Tahno yelled at apologized again before they left.  
No one, not a single person, sounded understanding until now. He turned around to watch Mako walk away, before he himself walked in the opposite direction.


End file.
